Welcome to I hope you enjoy my blog. I have links to the books I have written posted here. Along with a few family history links. I have projects we have done and are doing. Some ideas on food storage recipes and other hints. Along with our homestead chatter and crafts.

Friday, December 25, 2015

Hope all are at least mindful of the true meaning of Christmas and this finds everyone as well as can be expected for all of you and your family members.We are pretty good, had grandgirl for 6 days as she was ill and had to be here as her mom had to work.We have had a whole lot of snow and that meant lots of plowing.

We had our Christmas dinner last night on Christmas Eve. We had 17 counting hubby and I. Wish more could have made it but we understand. Some just want to be at their own homes and we understand that also.One of the older grand girls brought her new little boy up and hubby. My mom is a great, great grand, she was here, brought up by one of our daughters. Five of the family members had car pooled up in our daughter T's 4 wheel drive pickup.

Hope all are having as good a Christmas season as you can. Happy New Year to come.

Wednesday, December 16, 2015

The tree is a little odd, but it's ours :) The temperature dropped to 7 degrees late this afternoon. Dh was plowing the new snowfall out of the driveway, and said no wonder it felt so cold lol.Tree time.

Our tree is a combo of store bought and what the kidlets made through the years.The dogs were exhausted lol

Thursday, December 10, 2015

Yep, we have gone from -2 to this week in the low 40's and melted to mud. We have had, lots of snow, sleet, ice and now dogs wallowing in mud. It is supposed to snow again starting tomorrow. Next week we will be back to the 20's for highs.We have been trying to figure out what to do for family members this Christmas and we think we have got that on the go. Now have to mail some things out.We found the all the Christmas boxes and have to put a tree up yet. We have been setting out our decorations. I think we will get a fresh tree from our woods.

Monday, November 30, 2015

Hello everyone,Just thinking about this last of the year and how quickly the first 11 months whooshed past. Here we have just finished Thanksgiving, again. And no we are not ready for Christmas yet. Still just thinking about what needs accomplished.

Our Thanksgiving Day was held down in the valley at son and daughter in laws, J and J's with their two little ones. All together there were 17 of us including my mother who is a great and great, great grandmother. We had four generations represented at the tables. A couple were missing when the picture taking was happening, they were up and about, son Jo for one.Daughter on top left Ch and her fiance Ath just got engaged like 2 weeks ago. He will be a great addition to our family and we hope us to his.Hello new family to be in Alabama.

We sure missed those who were unable to come this year but we know it always doesn't work out. Some had to work and others had priorities or live far away. We do miss all of our remaining children being together with us once in awhile.The 28th of November was our daughter Tanya's birthday, she would have been 43. We miss you.

Hope all you folks are doing better than us at your Christmas preparations. My major part is keeping the love we have for one another and healing any bridges that need so.

Friday, November 13, 2015

But wet at this time of year makes mud as it doesn't stay frozen. The dogs become wet muddy messes. Lily loves to wallow in her two holes she has made in the back yard.We have also been burning the slash piles, as we are allowed to at this time of year and things being so wet.

Not to much else going on up here. Oh the potatoes are all out of the ground and stored away for the winter, We ended up with 300 plus pounds. With plenty to eat and save for seed potatoes next spring.Here are Lilli and Bear while still clean :).

We are getting in gear to think about the Holiday's, Thanksgiving will be at a son and daughter in laws house J and J, down in Lewiston. We are bringing the last Turkey we raised that is 48 pounds. Don't know what else yet. But that one is a for sure.

Friday, October 30, 2015

As per our weather report we have a chance of snow on Tuesday and lows in the 20's. We have had a great Indian summer and fall, except for the lack of rain. We did get quite a bit last night and today in our area. That should put an end to the fires even in the Umatilla National Forest Wilderness area.We have the fence and all but the two small gates up. One that leads up to the well house and the other one that leads to the upper woods above the chicken coop area.This will be where the gate to the well house will go.

This below is the lower gate that goes out to the bigger pond and lower field, just a cattle wire but it works well for a gate.

Yeah I know my blogs been all about gates for quite a while now. But the this is it until next year. Hope we can finish up along Coyote Flat road next year, that will be the last for the time being. Mainly fence fixing after that. The winter, elk and deer to a number on it all.

I took a picture of the moon setting the other morning above the barn.

Recipe: Here is a good one for fall I found.

Caramel
Apple Jam Recipe

Robert
Atwood, West Wareham, Massachusetts

TOTAL
TIME: Prep: 30 min. Process: 10 min.

MAKES: 56
servings

Ingredients

6 cups diced peeled apples (1/8-inch
cubes)

1/2 cup water

1/2 teaspoon butter

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 package (1-3/4 ounces) powdered
fruit pectin

3 cups sugar

2 cups packed brown sugar

Directions

In a Dutch oven, combine the apples,
water, butter, cinnamon and nutmeg. Cook and stir over low heat until
apples are tender. Stir in pectin. Bring to a full rolling boil over high
heat, stirring constantly. Stir in sugar; return to a full rolling boil.
Boil and stir 1 minute.

Monday, October 19, 2015

That's the fencing around the house and the main parts that we need it to keep the dogs from going walkabout. We put field fencing up at the main gate in the high areas so they can't go under it. Give Lilli four inches and she will flop on her side and crawl sideways under it. I could hardly believe it when I saw her do that.A gate still needs put in thats is a ready made one, and another that needs built' but we have fence in the area for now. The rest of the fence on our east side along the long side Coyote Flat Road will have to wait for next year.A cool front came in last night and so last night and today we got a little bit of rain. Not much but a little is better than nothing these days.The dogs came in tonight stinking to high heaven, somewhere on the property they have to roam, they found something dead and rotting. GAK.Another season of volleyball and football is over with for two of the grandgirls and Homecoming for the teens this past weekend.Our daughter who moved back here from VA. found a place and has moved out, sure hope it works out to be a good place :).I made plum butter this past Saturday and will have pumpkin to can up, and maybe some potatoes, but that should be it for this year as far as canning goes. This was taken before it was cooked down to half what I have here. This was a triple batch.

Plum Butter

Large Crock Pot

12 cups of pureed plums with skins

6 cups sugar

2 and 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon ground cloves, if you don't like as much in cloves just add 1/2 teaspoon.

1/4 cup lemon juice

Cook on alternating low and high, stirring once in awhile, more so when on high. At least 24 hours or until 1/2 gone or as thick as you want it when cooled.

Put in clean pint or half pint jars and process in a steam or water bath canner. 30 min. for pints and 20 min. for half pints.

Friday, October 9, 2015

Right now the fencing never seems to end. Our neighbor who Dave has been helping with his comes over to help us when he is able. I get to be the Supervisor instead of the helper/Go-fer. I still run for things now and then but not as much. :)We concreted in 13 wooden posts to put the field fencing on the back side of the house down from the garden area up to the coop. There will be a 12 foot gate down by the garden going into the lower field. One in the middle on the long right side of the house not far from the clothes line so we can easily go up to the well house, and a new one up by the chicken yard.

Lilli and Bear are getting along just fine. They have to be with us or in the fenced locked garden area, so they don't go on walkabouts. Like 2 and 1/2 miles from home.

Still trying to do more Paleo.Mayonnaise Paleo StyleOne half avocado1/4 cup olive oil1/2 cup avocado oilDash of pepperOne large eggOne and a half tablespoons lemon juice1/4 teaspoon dry mustard or to taste more if necessaryPlace the one half avocado, lemon juice, egg and mustard in your food processor and blend this well. Very slowly add your oils while machine is still on. Season with the pepper. Put in a container you can seal tight and place in fridge.Small batch No Milk Fruit Ice CreamOne half pineapple chunks or pieces, freeze8 ounces of coconut milkTwo cups of sliced bananas, freeze4 tablespoons of lime or lemon juiceDash of salt can be regular, kosher or sea saltYOu can add strawberries instead of lime or lemon juice if you prefer, experiment.Thaw the banana and pineapple for 5 to 7 minutes.Put banana, pineapple and coconut milk in food processor, blend smooth. Add juice and salt and blend some more. Line a bread pan or a 8x11 pan with plastic wrap. Freeze to soft serve stage 30 to 45 minutes is normal. Depends on your freezer.

Monday, September 28, 2015

We have a new dog and we really hope she works out. Her name is Lily. Her owner died around 3 months ago and has had someone dropping by the house to feed her twice a day.We put her out this morning (they spent the night in the enclosed front porch) with grandsons dog Bear in an area that is field fenced and they somehow got out this morning. They went for a walkabout and we had to go find them. Bear will follow her anywhere and he was all tuckered out and climbed into the truck gladly.We started her off on scrambled eggs as she wasn't eating and today I mixed a scrambled egg with her dog food and she ate it :).

Thursday, September 17, 2015

We received some rain this morning in our area, was wonderful to see. We have dug up about 75 lbs of potatoes but still have 5 more 50 foot rows to go. We grew Red Patomics, Goldens and Blues.That was going to be today's chore but we gladly are taking the rain instead :).Our daughter C is here safe after driving pretty much straight through from Northern Virginia earlier this week and has already been job hunting and got a job. She is living here for the time being.We are also babysitting a grandsons dog and Bear who has lived here before is doing just fine.We have another couple of loads of wood in the woodshed from trees on our property and it doesn't look good for getting back in the forest to cut wood. They are saying if the area doesn't get a good amount of rain to put the fires out that the fires in Umatilla National forest would burn well into October.

The south fence is finished except for putting the ties on a few t-posts and then it is on to another side.We are just trying to get as much finished as possible while the weather is still good and before the snow flies.

Tuesday, September 8, 2015

Yep, it frosted here already. Friday the 4th of September. We had 30 degrees. This coming week we are supposed to get out of the 40's and 50's and be back to the 70's in the day time.Cleaning the chimney at 40 degrees outside.

The fire is out on the east and south east. But still raging on the north and west :(. We have been without smoke for three days now and it is wonderful to breathe clean air again. We have also been blessed with a couple of nights and a morning with rain. But unlike parts of Montana we did not get snow at our elevation.We just finished yesterday getting all our camping gear put back away and only a few kitchen items to unpack yet. We feel very blessed to be able to unpack.On another note we finally got to buy a wood splitter instead of having to rent or borrow one. Which always meant a day of marathon wood splitting to get it all done and the splitter back. It is getting harder for us to be able to do that anymore. The splitter isn't a big one but works well and it was on sale. Took us a long time to be able to get one of our own. We spent a part of yesterday afternoon splitting wood. It is already stacked in our wood shed.

Teeth – to whiten, hold one capful of peroxide in your mouth for 10 minutes daily.

Toothpaste – to make your own, make a paste using peroxide and baking soda.

Health care

always consult a doctor before using hydrogen peroxide as a treatment

Boils – to heal, pour ½ a bottle of peroxide in your bathwater.

Canker Sores – to prevent, hold one capful of peroxide in your mouth for 10 minutes.

Colds – to cure in 24 hours, put a few drops of peroxide in your ear, when the bubbling stops (5-10 minutes), drain onto a tissue. Repeat for the other ear. Colonic – to make your own, add 1 cup of peroxide to 5 gallons of warm water.

Corns and Calluses – to soften, soak feet in a solution made of equal parts water and peroxide.

Counter tops – to kill germs, spray the counter tops with peroxide and wipe with a clean cloth.

Grout – to whiten, make sure the grout is dry, then spray a generous amount of peroxide on the grout. Let it sit for 1-2 hours and scrub the area with an old toothbrush and some warm soapy water.

Mirrors – for a no steak clean, spray mirrors with peroxide and wipe with a paper towel or newspaper.

Mold – to control, clean the area with peroxide.

Tile – to remove stains, make a thick paste using flour and peroxide. Apply the mixture to the stain, cover with plastic wrap and let it sit overnight. Rinse clean.

Toothbrush – to kill germs, soak your toothbrush in peroxide.

Kitchen

Cutting Board – to kill germs, after rinsing off your cutting board, spray it with peroxide.

Dishrags and sponges – to clean, soak them for 15-30 minutes in a solution using equal parts peroxide and warm water. Rinse.

Fruits & Vegetables – to clean, spray them with peroxide (food grade) and let them stand for a few minutes, then rinse and dry.

Fruits & Vegetables – for a non-toxic sanitizer, pour peroxide (food grade) into a dark colored spray bottle (light destroys peroxide) and fill another spray bottle with vinegar. Spray your fruits and vegetables with the peroxide and then repeat using the vinegar.

Monday, August 24, 2015

The fire seems to be just holding but no new outbreaks from yesterday. We are still at a level 2, they said for a couple more days as we are under red flag warnings. Plus air quality alerts as the smoke is so bad.Even the Lewis/Clark valley is really bad.Here is the ash falling on us last Thursday afternoon. Everything is covered with it but the wind today is helping that. Made the picture look like it's blurry but that is the ash.

This is what we look like yesterday and today.

Here is a recipe at Honeyville for all those that like Chocolate Brownies. These are made with zucchini.

Tuesday, August 18, 2015

The fencing work continues. Concreting in posts we nail to, that replace the old, old 1930's Rock Jacks. Pulling T posts and taking old fencing down and putting new up. Right now the concrete has to cure for a few days before they can be finished.

The Elk did a real number on the old one below last winter, knocked it clean apart.

I was walking around in the woods and these are the things below one finds out there.

Tuesday, August 11, 2015

It has been hot but that doesn't stop the work that has to be done around here. Mostly working on fences, ours and helping the neighbor with his and our shared fence line.

Friday is supposed to bring some relief from the heat. We have been under red flag warnings as far as fire danger goes and everything outside is getting crunchy.On another note a site has 5 ways to preserve milk. Looked good to me.Site for directions

Salting

Salting is important to the preservation of anything and that includes your milk products.

Though you probably don’t want to salt your milk before you can it, you definitely want to salt your butter, cottage cheese and other products.

This will not only help them last longer but will also give you access to a food in your emergency food supply that has that necessary mineral (and flavor enhancer) in it.

Dehydrating

If you’ve dehydrated other foods, it may have occurred to you that you could do the same with milk. As bad as I hate to burst your bubble, it’s not so easy to do if you want to preserve the flavor and nutritional value. You also need to have special equipment such as an atomizer that won’t come cheap. You will also need a ton of milk just to yield a pint of dehydrated milk. Skip this idea and just buy powdered milk.

Freezing

Yes, it’s entirely possible to freeze milk but I recommend not doing so for a couple of reasons. First, if SHTF you probably won’t have the electricity to keep the freezer running so your milk will go bad within a couple of days, especially if it’s hot outside.

Second, frozen milk is fine to use but it often gets a grainy texture to it. It separates out but that can be dealt with just by shaking it up. Still, the texture thing is an issue and is the main reason that I don’t recommend freezing it for everyday use.

Canning Milk

We’ve discussed canning in other articles but many people don’t realize that milk can be canned, too. Just as with all canning procedures, it’s imperative that you make sure that your jars and seals are super clean. Warm your seals if necessary in order to get the best seal possible.

To can milk, start with extremely clean milk. Clean the udder, the buckets and all the equipment in addition to the jars. As I already stated, I recommend pasteurizing, too. At the very least, strain it well using a milk sieve or several layers of clean, lint-free cloth such as cheese cloth. Pour the milk into a clean bowl and cover it so that nothing gets into it while you’re prepping the jars.

Wash your jars in hot, soapy water and rinse them well. Keep them submerged in hot water until you’re ready to use each them.

Fill each jar with milk, leaving a half-inch at the top for headroom. Clean the rims of the jars thoroughly and put the sterilized hot rims and rings on them. Put them in your pressure canner and fill with the recommended amount of water. Place the canner over the hottest part of the stove, on about medium.

Bring the pressure to 10 and cook quarts for 25 minutes or pints for 20 minutes. Make sure the pressure stays at 10 or else you’ll need to start the time over.

The reason that I gave you directions for using a pressure canner is because milk is a low-acid food and is therefore susceptible to botulism found in the soil. Pressure canning brings the milk up to a safe temperature and holds it at that temperature long enough to kill any bacteria.

Canned milk will keep up to 2 years and is great for cooking and even drinking though the color will change. It will have a slight caramel color and may taste a bit sweeter or just cooked. Canned milk is great for any recipe that requires milk; however, you can’t make cheese, yogurt or rennet desserts from it because the milk won’t clabber.

Tuesday, August 4, 2015

Working here as possible, it has been hot but is cooler today. There is smoke coming in from west and south of us from the fires between us and Wala Wala WA. and the Southern part of the Umatilla National Forest in Oregon. High fire danger here but so far things are alright. We found these Devil's Trumpets growing in the crevices of huge boulders in AZ.

Here is some great suggestions on what uses vinegar has from Backdoor Survival. Backdoorsurvival

Why
You Need Vinegar In Your Stockpiles

1. Disinfect wood cutting boards.

2. Soothe a sore throat; use 1
tsp. of vinegar per glass of warm water, then gargle.

31. Remove bumper stickers and
decals; simply cover them with vinegar-soaked cloth for several minutes.

32. Prolong the life of fresh-cut
flowers; use 2 tbsp of vinegar and 3 tbsp of sugar per quart of warm water

33. Prevent Mildew; Wipe
down shower walls with a vinegar solution.

34. Soften calloused feet; soak
your feet in a mixture 50/50 mixture of vinegar and water for 30 minutes then
scrub them with a pumice stone. The dead skin should slough off easily.

35. Treat Acne; start with a
solution of organic apple cider vinegar and water at a ration of 1:8, apply the
toner to blemishes and leave on a minimum of 2 minutes.

36. Preserve food; many
vegetables that would otherwise require pressure canning may be water bath
canned if you pickle them in vinegar.

37. Remove stains from white
counter tops; mix a paste of baking soda and vinegar, apply it to the stain
overnight, then scrub it clean in the morning.

38. Remove cooking spray build-up;
vinegar cuts grease on baking sheets when spritzed on from a spray bottle, then
washed as usual.

39. Control blood sugar; drink
high quality apple cider vinegar 4 times per day to keep blood sugar under
control.

40. Keep psoriasis under control;
wash the affected area with plain white vinegar several times per week.

41. Kill moss; spray it,
undiluted, on moss.

42. Penetrating fluid for rusty
items; soak metal items that are rusted together in vinegar overnight. If you
begin to get some movement, replace the vinegar with fresh vinegar and soak for
one more day. The items should become freed up.

43. Use in place of commercial
fabric softener; add it to the last cycle in your washing machine. (Don’t
worry, the water will rinse out any vinegar smell)

44. Remove pesticide from
produce; soak produce in a sink full of water with 1 cup of vinegar and half a
cup of baking soda

45. Remove ballpoint pen marks
from walls; dab full strength vinegar on the spot with a cloth. Repeat until
the mark is gone. (Don’t scrub, though, or you’ll just smear the mark all over
the wall.)

46. Remove sticky residue from
scissors; dip them in a cup of full strength vinegar. Then use that vinegar for
other cleaning purposes.

47. Remove candle wax; if you get
candle wax on your wood table, soften the candle wax with the heat of a blow
dryer. Dip a cloth into equal parts vinegar and water, then gently scrub away
the rest of the wax.

48. Get rid of the smell of
smoke; if you burn dinner (or have a smoker in your home), you can get rid of
the smell by sitting a bowl of pure vinegar out in the area where the smell is.

49. Make a trap for fruit flies
(gnats); put apple cider vinegar in a Mason jar. Poke some holes in the
lid large enough for them to get in. They’ll be drawn to the smell, then die in
the jar.

50. Kill weeds in the cracks of
your sidewalk; forget about using toxic Roundup on weeds. Spray full strength
white vinegar on the plant at the roots. (10% is best if you have a real issue,
not the kitchen kind).

Friday, July 24, 2015

It was good to have a break but it is also very good to be home to our own bed.We took a bit more time coming home and went to the Grand Canyon and a couple of National Parks. There is one thing that happens to us when we go somewhere, it rains.

THis below is a rock that rolled down off the cliff by the road.

We then went to Bryce and the Red Canyon. It rained about 1/2 way through the park.

These below are called Hoodoos.

Son KH came up to help water again the day we got home. Dh's back was really hurting.While we were gone ground squirrels ate all of our different types of beans to the ground. It is too late in our season for us to replant.

Sallys Country Home

Informational Sites

About Us

We are the parents of 10 children. We have 5 boys and 5 girls. We lost 1 daughter Dec 3 2012. My husband and I live on a small old farm built in the 1930s, it is in need a lot of work. It is getting done little by little. Each year finds improvements made. We are down to lots of chickens, 2 dogs and 1 cat. At different times of the year we raise Cornish X-Rock meat birds and turkeys. I write,love taking pictures,doing family history, reading, wash and spin wool, do all sorts of needlework, quilt, garden, can and dehydrate produce and I love learning new crafts. Together we reroofed the house and built a roof over our deck. Hubby is very handy and is a jack of all trades. Farm fence work is continuing.